Listen to that little voice

"Don’t let the noise of others’ opinion drown out your own inner voice.” –Steve Jobs

I recently listened to an interview of artist Susan Bain whose work I immediately fell in love with. She uses her iPhone as her primary camera and utilizes many apps as her editing tools. Her images embody her quirky personality through her skillful and tasteful use of those programs. Instead of making her work looking gimmicky, they showcase her unique way of seeing the world – she sees playfulness and beauty through mundane objects. I feel the effects she put into her work greatly enhance her message, something I aspire to do when it comes to editing my own photos.

I use Photoshop to edit my images. I have been reluctant to embrace a lot of the plug-in programs that are widely available nowadays. My reluctance dated back to the feedback I received from my first photography instructor years ago. As someone who was new to the medium, I was open to trying out all the tools that were available to me back then. I remember showing this one image in which I added multiple filter effects during a class I had with this instructor. The feedback I received was less than encouraging, to put it mildly. He questioned my motive for putting in all those effects. Were those effects part of my effort to make an otherwise mediocre image looking more than it was? While I felt sorely disappointed for the feedback I received, I did agree with him for seeing through my excessive edits as a means to rescue a lousy image. This experience has made a significant impact on my editing process. I make sure I have an image that has a good foundation to work with before lapping on unnecessary edits.

With that said, after seeing Susan’s work, I can’t help but think maybe it’s time to adjust my view as to what I can do with my photography nowadays. Years have passed since that critique session, should I continue to let one person’s feedback affect dictate what I can do? Does his feedback still hold true when I feel my work has significantly improved since then? I think it’s time to re-think where I should stand when it comes to evaluating my work. This experience of receiving feedback from one photography instructor was not an isolated incident. I attended workshops offered by other instructors. They have their own philosophy, workflow, and style. When they give feedbacks, they are all valuable and well meaning, but I should also recognize those are their views, they may not always be applicable to how I wish to proceed with my work.

The same goes to the way we share our work through other popular online outlets nowadays. I feel at times I have my own team of rivals, friends, famous photographers, influences looking over my shoulder as I work; none of them are mean. They all make observations, giving feedbacks, recommendations, etc. There is Ansel Adams telling me to do more dodging and burning, then there is this faceless person on the internet telling me I am playing it too safe with my edits, or another John Doe in my head saying I am copying someone’s else ideas and it is time I form my own. These voices will always be there, and they get particularly loud when I question my ability to make compelling work.

Ultimately every person who sees one piece of art, be it a photograph or a painting will come away with different impressions. We all carry our own baggage. Our perception is aways changing, and every time you see something anew, you think, how could I have missed that before? Now I am seeing something altogether different. We are by no means static as human beings. We morph and grow alongside with our life experience. We need not adhere to any one viewpoint that no longer serves us.

Always listen to that little voice inside you. Listen intently and home in on that gut reaction. Make work that excites you, giving you the goose bumps. That to me is the tell-tale sign when I am hitting the mark of my inner compass.